10.11.2009 0

Senator Pierre Laffitte opens exhibition on the IT Park he created four decades ago

Sophia Antipolis celebrates forty years with show

Touted as France’s equivalent of Silicon Valley, the Riviera’s Sophia Antipolis IT and Scientific Park last night celebrated the 40 years since its creation in 1969. A comprehensive exhibition on the Park opened amidst a flurry of congratulations to its founder, Senator Pierre Laffitte. This remarkable man, at the time former Director of the Ecole des Mines, and now well into his golden years is still very much active in the Park’s development and reinvention in his capacity as President of the Sophia Antipolis Foundation.

Delegates of the Alpes-Maritimes and Sophia Anitpolis employees attend exhibition
Delegates of the Alpes-Maritimes and Sophia Antipolis employees attend exhibition opening

The exhibition highlights the importance of this hub of IT and business creation to the Alpes-Maritimes’ economic performance and traces rise from its humble but ambitious beginnings in 1969 to its current status as Europe’s largest such Park with over 1,400 companies from all over the world.

Over 2,300 hectares of land located beside the village of Valbonne, north of Antibes, is dedicated to the Park. Sophia’s employees comprise over 70 nationalities, which has transformed the profile of the former little village of Valbonne, now home to many of the international residents who work there.

Present at the event, to acknowledge the achievements of the Park and Senator Laffitte, were M. Francis Lamy, Préfet of the Alpes-Maritimes, M.Michel Vauzelle, Deputy, President of the region of PACA, M.Eric Ciotti, Deputy, President of the Conseil Général des Alpes-Maritimes, M.Jean Leonetti, President of CASA, Deputy Mayor of Antibes-Juan-les-Pins, M.Marc Daunis, Senator-Mayor of Valbonne Sophia Antipolis and Dominique Esteve, President of the Chambre of Commerce (CCI) Nice Côte d’Azur. The exhibition will continue until the 9th December 2009 at the Galerie de la Fondation Sophia Antipolis at place Sophie Laffitte in the Park.

PF

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